Economic conditions kicked off the lira's tumble, and global tensions aggravated it, but one former ambassador says Turkey could tap out at any time — if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan swallows his pride.

"Turkey doubled down, and now they're in a hole of their own making," former U.S. ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson said on CNBC's "Closing Bell."

"The outcome depends entirely on whether Mr. Erdogan is willing to swallow his pride enough to save his currency and his country, rather than his immediate political image," he added.

Robert Hormats, who served as undersecretary of State for former President Barack Obama, blames both leaders for ratcheting up the tensions in a situation he said mirrors others around the world.

"It's not just what's happened, it's the fact that two leaders are not trying to work out something to dampen down the problem. They're in fact taking measures to exacerbate it," Hormats said Friday on CNBC's "Power Lunch."

"We are seeing this around the world. We are seeing it in terms of the confrontation between the United States and China on trade, where everyone seems to be escalating the process," he added.

Pearson, on the other hand, said the U.S. hasn't been unduly harsh.

"I wouldn't call it an attack. I think that first round of sanctions was very mild. It was designed to induce the Turks to go ahead and make the deal they already had agreed to," Pearson said.

"The solution to this is to let the pastor go ... and do what's right for the economy," he added.

Turkey's economic decline doesn't have to be "a permanent economic crisis," like Russia's, Pearson said, so long as Erdogan submits to demands of the United States, the economy or both.

"Mr. Erdogan only has one tool in his box and that's his nationalistic image, and he tries to defend the currency with a flag. That's not possible," Pearson said.